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POLITICO Magazine

POLITICO 44

In politics, a famous family name often helps. And in the age of Obama, it’s a particularly good time to be named Podesta.

Lobbyist Tony Podesta has a long history in Democratic politics and is a prodigious fundraiser. His wife, Heather, is a powerhouse lobbyist in her own right. Tony’s brother, John — a co-founder of their namesake lobbying firm — was the co-chairman of the Obama transition and is the founder and president of the Center for American Progress, which many people credit with crafting much of the Obama administration’s policy blueprints and staffing its ranks.

With a pedigree like that, it’s no surprise that Tony Podesta’s lobbying firm has emerged as a king of K Street.

The Podesta Group earned almost $1.5 million more in this year’s first quarter than last year’s quarterly average, a measure that outperformed every other Washington lobbying firm, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Unlike so many of his peers, Podesta did not spring from the byzantine halls of Congress or the ephemeral world of administrations past. Podesta was, and to some extent still is, a campaign operator.

After more than 40 years as an operative and lobbyist, an in-the-trenches sensibility seems to inform most of Podesta’s work. In the late ’80s, he worked in California politics, and he knew House Speaker Nancy Pelosi before she even ran for office. He chaired Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell’s reelection campaign in 2006 and helped elect Democratic Reps. Joe Sestak, Jason Altmire, Patrick Murphy and Chris Carney. In 2008, he helped Rep. John Murtha defend his seat after the don of Johnstown called his constituents racists and rednecks.

The campaign mentality doesn’t end when he returns from the trail. Every week, he opens his home for a fundraiser. Almost all the Democratic senators have been through, including a onetime Senate candidate named Barack Obama. Podesta and his wife recently hosted a fundraiser at their house that reportedly raised $500,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

“You meet people in the middle of political campaigns, and they appreciate the fact that you’ve given of yourself to get them elected,” Podesta said in an interview. “I’ve helped a lot of the folks who are in Congress politically, and helped them in many ways, and that’s a thing which people are grateful about.”

Still, some question the cozy relationship Podesta enjoys with Washington’s power set. Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the government watchdog group Public Citizen, said it’s not surprising that the Podesta Group is making bank.

“The fact that people understand that the Podesta family is connected to the administration is going to bring business his way from wealthy special interests,” Holman said. “I’m not saying that Podesta is manipulating anything. He’s just enjoying the fruits of a privileged position in which he stands, and I’d like to see those kinds of privileges whittled away.”

Podesta said the suggestion that clients hire him because of his brother’s political ties is bunk. But it’s a criticism that’s been leveled since John left their lobbying firm to work for the Clinton administration, eventually becoming Clinton’s chief of staff. As he did then, Tony insists that he has never lobbied his brother.

Podesta attributes his success to an all-star staff, growing energy and financial services practices, and an activist government working on multiple fronts.

“The key to a firm like this, it’s a personal service business,” he said. “If they’re smart and hardworking and strategic and forward-leaning, they’re treasured by clients, and we’ve tried to have that culture in the firm ever since it was just me and John.”